It emerged on Monday that at Schöppingen, a town in northwestern Germany, a bid by three suspects to blow open an automatic dispenser (pictured above) containing condoms and money had ended fatally for a 29-year-old on Christmas Day.

Despite sheltering in a get-away car, he was hit on the head by a flying piece of metal. The car's passenger door had been left open, police said.

Attempts to reanimate the unconscious man failed after his suspected accomplices brought him to hospital in the neighboring German city of Ahaus, near the Dutch border.

The dispenser was destroyed. Police found the wares and money still on the ground.

ipj, mg/se (dpa, AFP)